Windows 7's XP Mode does not mean you can completely avoid upgrading your Windows XP applications or entirely dodge Windows 7 certification, Microsoft has warned.
ISVs and end users will only get a Windows XP experience when running their Windows XP applications in the new operating system's Windows XP Mode. To experience the …

What's this Widows XP then?

Well

It seems Microsoft doesn't learn and decided to make 10 billion flavors of shit again to confuse people and slow up adoption.

What ever happened to the simplicity of Win2k? For users you had one edition and that one edition was good. Not this home, semi uncrippled home, what should be standard, deluxe, super duper delux, and the Primo OMG you need a quad core with dual Nvidia 9800 in SLI mode just to load the OS and click on the start button version.

Personally looks like I'm still gonna stick with Win2k till no one makes software compatible with 2k and xp than go raise up the penguin flag

The new "widow maker"?

Should the [mis-?]spelling in the next- to- last 'graf ("Another question after news of Widows XP Mode broke .... ") be taken to imply that XP Mode might have some interesting side effects? BSOD indeed.

Looks like Microsoft finally took a lesson from IBM.

Ha. XP mode. That's cute.

I've had "XP mode" for a couple years now on my desktop. Running Linux, of course. And native applications are, indeed, better. I also have "OS X Mode", "FreeBSD Mode", "Vista Mode", "OpenBSD Mode", and "Debian Mode". A mode for every mood.

Very witty, Wilde

Some new Win7 computers can't run XP Mode though...

As I understand it, XP Mode requires a CPU with Virtualisation Technology or equivalent. So this will mean some Win7 systems can run XP Mode and some cannot. So how will M$ differentiate between the two types to avoid disappointing customers?

@craig

"Why no XP Mode for home users"

Because this is a bit of thigh-flashing in the hope of persuading corporate customers to upgrade. There was nothing in Vista of benefit to a corporate desktop, so nobody really bothered. Also I suspect increasingly ISVs are getting fed up playing chase-the-version. Unless MS deliberately break backwards compatibility why bother being "certified"?

As for home users - MS certainly doesn't want to have home users failing to fork out for the new version, of course not, where's the money in that?